An extraordinary piece of early American history preserved and quietly passed down through nine generations has surfaced for the first time. Recognized by experts as a unique historical artifact from the New England colonies, this textile was handmade by the wife of Yale University's founder Rev. Thomas Buckingham.

While textbooks focus on the great documents of the American past, or the important events, artifacts can show us another kind of history, another way of approaching the past. The Buckingham Quilt is an American treasure that not only connects people, it tells its own story of colonial history by representing a bygone era 100 years before the birth of America.

After almost 350 years, the living descendant and trustee, who wishes to remain anonymous, has chosen to no longer enshrine and isolate The Buckingham Quilt but instead open it up to provide opportunities to challenge and enhance our understanding of the past:

"The Buckingham Quilt is important to us as a way to approach the past. It provides us a way into history. It is a touchstone that bring memories and meanings to life. It makes history real. Moreover, it is a reality that can and should be viewed from different perspectives. Looking closely at this artifact, putting it into historical context, and using it to understand the past, is exactly what we need to do."

(The Telegraph) -- Sex toy injuries have doubled since 2007, with a large increase in 2012 and 2013, after the release of the Fifty Shades of Grey books.

The figures are estimates from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which has tracked casualty admissions since 1991, the Washington Post reported.

The injuries relating to "massage devices and vibrators" were initially low but began to rise steeply from 2005, when around 1500 people across the US received treatment for sex injuries.

Middle aged men were most likely to get such injuries. Male patients accounted for 58 per cent, with the median age in that group being 44 years old. The median aged for women was younger, at 30 years old.

From George Washington on, presidents have blamed “them lyin’ newspapers” for their problems, and often for the problems they create. And not just presidents; governors, mayors and even aldermen play the national political sport. The villains now include television and the Internet.

Presidents dream of drawing interviewers like Ezra Klein of Vox.com. President Obama sat down the other day with Mr. Klein and he served up one softball after another about the president’s political theories, his reading of history and his dreams. The pitcher had neither curve ball nor slider in his repertoire, and Mr. Obama duly knocked them out of the park. The president thinks the legislative filibuster should be abolished, he would amend the Constitution to limit political speech and he thinks income redistribution is a good thing “for its own sake.”

But when he dismissed concerns about violent radical Islam as a media creation, which he thinks has been hyped and doesn’t mean much, anyway, he crossed into fantasy. He compared himself to a city mayor whose job requires him to deal with crime and criminals, and the media’s eagerness to play up the deeds of the few hardly makes the problems serious. He suggests that reporters and pundits play up the violence in the Middle East for the same reason television’s Entertainment News hypes murder, mayhem and a light snowfall.

The White House is set to introduce a new Authorization for Use of Military Force against ISIS, designed to maximize American flexibility and minimize boots on the ground.

Representatives of the administration, including the White House and State Department, have revealed details of the proposed bill, BloombergView reported Tuesday. The suggested AUMF would prohibit permanent American ground troops from deploying against ISIS until 2018, well after President Obama will have left the presidency.

While preventing full-time boots on the ground, or “enduring offensive ground operations,” the bill would allow for the existing 3,000 advisers helping the Iraqi military, as well as special operations forces, airstrike coordinators and Search and Rescue teams. Those exceptions would also expire in 2018, which would prompt another round of congressional approval.

Notably, the proposal would break from the opinion of Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey, widely regarded on both sides of the aisle as one of the most shrewd military strategists in America. Dempsey recently told reporters, “I think in the crafting of the AUMF [authorization for use of military force,] all options should be on the table, and then we can debate whether we want to use them.”

February 11, 2015 - It has been mere hours since President Obama sent Congress a draft authorization for the use of military force to combat the Islamic State, and the measure already is in trouble.

Rampant skepticism from both sides of the aisle threatens to scuttle the bill in the House before debate even begins. The problem, as described by several members, including a high-ranking Republican involved in the AUMF negotiations, is that there may be no legislative text that can thread the needle between hawks who want a full-scale military campaign against ISIS; libertarian and progressive anti-war members who want no intervention at all; and members who would approve the use of force, but only if it is specifically restricted in geography, length and scope.

The result could be a failure to pass any kind of authorization, which would simply mean the status quo—and the Obama administration proceeding with its operations against ISIS.

At a private meeting of the House Republican Conference on Wednesday morning, Speaker John Boehner urged his members to "keep your powder dry," according to sources in the room, intimating that they should not outright reject the AUMF before they have a chance to change it.

He later told the press that the president's text is only the first step in what will be a long legislative process, complete with committee hearings and markups. But he added his own apprehension about what Capitol Hill sources described as a chorus of irreconcilable demands from far-flung ideological pockets of House members.

Is Vladimir Putin about to unleash bombshell satellite imagery that reveals the U.S. government’s role in carrying out the 9/11 attacks as punishment for the White House’s role in supporting Kiev and encircling Russia?

(WASHINGTON EXAMINER) -- In a surprise move late Friday, a key Democrat on the Federal Election Commission called for burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning, prompting the Republican chairman to warn that Democrats want to regulate online political sites and even news media like the Drudge Report.

Democratic FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel announced plans to begin the process to win regulations on Internet-based campaigns and videos, currently free from most of the FEC’s rules. “A reexamination of the commission’s approach to the internet and other emerging technologies is long over due,” she said.

The power play followed a deadlocked 3-3 vote on whether an Ohio anti-President Obama Internet campaign featuring two videos violated FEC rules when it did not report its finances or offer a disclosure on the ads. The ads were placed for free on YouTube and were not paid advertising.

Under a 2006 FEC rule, free political videos and advocacy sites have been free of regulation in a bid to boost voter participation in politics. Only Internet videos that are placed for a fee on websites, such as the Washington Examiner, are regulated just like normal TV ads.

Ravel’s statement suggests that she would regulate right-leaning groups like America Risingthat posts anti-Democrat YouTube videos on its website.

Excerpted from Washington Free Beacon: A Muslim Brotherhood member who recently was hosted at the State Department along with several of the Islamist group’s key allies now claims that a White House official also was present in that meeting, according to recent remarks.

Abdel Mawgoud al-Dardery, a Brotherhood member and former Egyptian parliamentarian, was in the United States late last month along with a delegation of fellow Brotherhood leaders and allies.

The Brotherhood-aligned delegation caused an international stir after the Washington Free Beacon revealed that it had been hosted for a meeting with several State Department officials.

Another member of the group, a Brotherhood-aligned judge in Egypt, posed for a picture while at Foggy Bottom in which he held up the Islamic group’s notorious four-finger Rabia symbol.

While the State Department initially misled reporters about the meeting, it was eventually forced to admit that several Obama administration officials—including a deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor—and State Department officials met with the delegation.

Al-Dardery now claims that in addition to these State Department representatives, a member of the White House also participated in the sit-down. Keep reading

Article III the Constitution states: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.”

Let’s get a few things straight. Obama has committed treason in so many ways and so many times most people have lost track of the official count. Let’s look at the FACTS for a moment. Forget for a brief moment how quickly a republican would be thrown out of office with this nonsense swirling around all the time, and stop and realize we are letting a COMMUNIST get away with from OUR OWN the Oval Office.

ALL OF THE MEN SHOWN ON VIDEO BELOW KNOW OBAMA IS A TRAITOR!

WHO BETTER TO KNOW THAN HIS MILITARY GENERALS & ADMIRALS?

I have posted at least 4-5 stories where on SEPARATE OCCASIONS where one of the military’s highest decorated officers , Admiral Lons, has come forward and accused Obama of crimes ranging from Treason, to Colluding with the Enemy, to Supplying the enemy with Stinger Missiles. For anyone who wants to get smart with me, and ask who I mean by “the enemy” I am referring to Al Qaeda! Admiral Lyons has been telling anyone who will listen, that Obama has committed TREASON! I myself have said since the DAY WE LEARNED 400 STINGER MISSILES EN ROUTE TO TERRORISTS WOUND UP MISSING FROM THE BENGHAZI EMBASSY, that it would be THOSE events that one day Obama would answer for. I take that back now. I think at this point the only Admiral Lyons has not told to get Obama are the men who used to be under his command. He should have them storm the White House and drag Obama out in cuffs. I pray that day comes soon.

BEST EFFORTS BY ADMIRALS AND GENERALS TO BRING OBAMA’S CRIMES TO LIGHT:

Where else but America is the Media SO twisted, and SO biased that they let a man with a SEALED past and a MUSLIM BROTHER NAMED MALIK WHO RUNS A MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TERRORIST GROUP BECOME PRESIDENT? Anyone with an IQ over 6 (sorry liberals, you’re OUT) knew DAMN well Obama was NOT eligible for office back in 2007, and despite piling up MOUNTAINS OF PROOF, no one even looked into it. Now, in SEVEN of the most disturbing pieces you will ever read you too will KNOWObama is the ENEMY!

Don’t stop there, the list of Obama’s treasonous acts extends almost as long as there are days he has spent tin the Oval Office. There is a LONG list of people accusing him of TREASON! Lieutenant General Thomas Mcinnerney has declared the government is infected with terrorist cells in every branch.

Retired 4-star Admiral James “Ace” Lyons recently spoke to the National Press Club about Obama’s efforts to “fundamentally transform” America, something he has been doing since he was first elected in 2008.

Lyons pointed to Obama’s recent refusal to join other world leaders in Paris to take a stand for freedom of expression, saying this is just the latest of “many signals” of support he has sent to the Islamic jihadists over the years

“There’s no question we got a hell of a job ahead of us,” Lyons said, “with the Muslim Brotherhood penetration in every one of our national security agencies, including all our intelligence agencies.”

He pointed to the current head of the CIA, John Brennan, who is believed to be a convert to Islam, as proof of his assertions, according to the TPNN.

Famous Journalist Drops Bombshell About Benghazi Liars Obama and Rice

Conservative Tribune e Continues: Conservatives have been fed up with the president’s convoluted strategy in the Middle East for years, but now it looks like the mainstream media is also getting tired of President Barack Obama’s indecision.

One of the most well-known journalists in America just criticized Obama and his advisers, including Susan Rice.

Bob Woodward appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and explained his view that the White House has no clear plan for dealing with Islamic terror groups and that the administration was badly micro-managing the military.

Woodward knows a few things about corrupt presidents. He was one of the key reporters responsible for exposing the infamous Watergate scandal during the Nixon administration.

“They (the Obama administration) have not sat down and said, ‘This is where we want to go and this is how we want to do it,’” said Woodward.

He’s exactly right. The Obama administration seems to rely on the backwards strategy of “ready, fire, aim” — if they ever fire at all.

That isn’t leadership, and that isn’t how America should deal with the deep problems of the Islamic State terror group or the Middle East.

MICHAEL CONNELLY IS AS RESPECTED AS THEY COME IN LEGAL CIRCLES DEALING WITH THE CONSTITUTION. MICHAEL IS BOTH A CONSTITUTIONAL ATTORNEY (A REAL ONE, NOT THE OBAMA VARIETY), AND A UNITED STATES ARMY VETERAN.

ON HIS WEBSITE HE WRITES:

“I am a U.S. Army veteran, a Constitutional attorney, Executive Director of the United States Justice Foundation, and a published author, freelance writer, and teacher. I am the author of four books, ”RIDERS IN THE SKY: THE GHOSTS AND LEGENDS OF PHILMONT SCOUT RANCH,” “THE MORTARMEN,” a story about my father’s unit in WW II; my novel, “AMAYEHLI: A STORY OF AMERICA,“ and the newly released “AMERICA’S LIVELIEST GHOSTS.” In addition, I have an affordable, pocket size booklet on the Constitution called “Our Constitution” that is receiving great reviews. You can read more about these books by going to the pages on each book on this website.” You may also want to check out his radio talk show that airs every Wednesday at 4:00 Eastern.

Mark Levin went through Obama’s interview with VOX and completely shredded it, clip by clip. It’s honestly the best analysis you are going to hear on the Marxist claptrap being spewed by this president.

President Obama’s new border security plan is being expanded to allow illegals in the United States to bring their children, their adult children, their grandchildren and even step-parents into the United States.

Obama is opening “a whole new pipeline for legal migration,” said Ann Corcoran, editor of Refugee Resettlement Watch. Once the new program is established, future officials can expand it to include more economic migrants from more poor countries, she told The Daily Caller.

After the Post and other outlets reported Monday the singer had submitted a film for the first-ever NYC Porn Film Festival, her representatives have had the film removed from the Bushwick event and its website.

The festival’s organizer lied when he said Cyrus had personally submitted the film — a 3-minute erotic, bondage-heavy short titled “Tongue Tied” — and then misled the production company Cadence Films into granting permission to use it, her representatives said Tuesday night. The producers and the singer’s representatives asked organizer Simon Leahy to remove the film from the festival and its online listings, which Leahy did Tuesday night.

“Miley was proud to make a film with acclaimed filmmaker Quentin Jones. She did not instigate this festival submission and is not participating in any way,” a spokesperson for the “We Can’t Stop” singer says.

Leahy originally told the Post Monday that Cyrus had submitted to the festival, which opens later this month, after hearing about it through mutual friends. He showed the Post emails with Cadence confirming the company would allow the film to be shown.

At Tuesday’s press briefing, White House mouthpiece Josh Earnest said something disgusting — I don’t know how else to describe it — about the massacre at the Hyper Casher kosher supermarket in Paris one month ago.

“The individuals who were killed in that terrible, tragic incident,” Earnest droned, “were killed not because of who they were but because of where they randomly happened to be.”

Take it from someone who keeps kosher: Nobody “randomly” happens to be in a kosher supermarket, not even in Manhattan.

Kayla Jean Mueller was an idealistic 26-year-old volunteer who’d been held hostage in Syria by the Islamic State for nearly two years before being killed.

In the handwritten letter home released by her family, she expresses concern about being a source of anxiety to her parents and makes clear a peace rooted in her faith in God. She had been kidnapped while she was working with refugees in Syria.

After Jordan airplanes struck back at ISIS fighters for burning to death one of their pilots, the Islamic State claimed Mueller had been killed in the raid. US authorities say this is doubtful.

But even if it were true, the blood would still be on ISIS’s hands. Indeed, their actions explain why they are terrorists: They took this civilian woman prisoner and held her in a war zone.

Mueller’s tragic death is one more warning sign of the vulnerability of Americans in the region.

It is a vulnerability that grows with an Obama Doctrine based on half-measures for what we will do and constant public reassurances of what we will not.

Instead of all-in or all-out, the president continues to settle for gestures — whether it’s a nuclear deal with Iran or token air strikes on ISIS when even some of his own commanders have said this isn’t enough to get the job done.

The following is text of a letter 26-year-old American Kayla Mueller wrote to her family while in ISIS captivity in November 2014:

Everyone, If you are receiving this letter it means I am still detained but my cell mates (starting from 11/2/2014) have been released. I have asked them to contact you + send you this letter. It's hard to know what to say. Please know that I am in a safe location, completely unharmed + healthy (put on weight in fact); I have been treated w/ the utmost respect + kindness. I wanted to write you all a well thought out letter (but I didn't know if my cell mates would be leaving in the coming days or the coming months restricting my time but primarily) I could only but write the letter a paragraph at a time, just the thought of you all sends me into a fit of tears. If you could say I have 'suffered' at all throughout this whole experience it is only in knowing how much suffering I have put you all through; I will never ask you to forgive me as I do not deserve forgiveness. I remember mom always telling me that all in all in the end the only one you really have is God.

I have come to a place in experience where, in every sense of the word, I have surrendered myself to our creator b/c literally there was no else ... + by God + by your prayers I have felt tenderly cradled in freefall. I have been shown in darkness, light + have learned that even in prison, one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation, sometimes we just have to look for it. I pray each day that if nothing else, you have felt a certain closeness + surrender to God as well + have formed a bond of love + support amongst one another ... I miss you all as if it has been a decade of forced separation.

I have had many a long hour to think, to think of all the things I will do w/ Lex, our first family camping trip, the first meeting @ the airport. I have had many hours to think how only in your absence have I finally @ 25 years old come to realize your place in my life. The gift that is each one of you + the person I could + could not be if you were not a part of my life, my family, my support. I DO NOT want the negotiations for my release to be your duty, if there is any other option take it, even if it takes more time. This should never have become your burden. I have asked these women to support you; please seek their advice. If you have not done so already, [REDACTED] can contact [REDACTED] who may have a certain level of experience with these people. None of us could have known it would be this long but I know I am also fighting from my side in the ways I am able + I have a lot of fight left inside of me.

I am not breaking down + I will not give in no matter how long it takes. I wrote a song some months ago that says, 'The part of me that pains the most also gets me out of bed, w/out your hope there would be nothing left ...' aka- The thought of your pain is the source of my own, simultaneously the hope of our reunion is the source of my strength. Please be patient, give your pain to God. I know you would want me to remain strong. That is exactly what I am doing. Do not fear for me, continue to pray as will I + by God's will we will be together soon.

Arguably one of the most influential people in global media, Matt Drudge is known for his breaking stories and connections to Washington politicos. It is said that he often drives the news cycle with over 1 billion monthly readers, many of whom work in politics and media.

When Drudge says something people listen, because if there’s anyone who might get the heads up about events before they become public it’s him. And based on a tweet recently posted to his Twitter account it’s quite possible that he knows something we have not yet been made privy to.

On Sunday night President Obama delivered a pre-taped speech to audience members at the Grammy awards. Drudge posted a photo of the President from the speech and called Obama’s appearence “greasy.” He continued with the following ominous words:

What do you think? Does Drudge have the inside scoop? Or does he, like many Americans, understand that we are living on borrowed time and all signs are pointing to something terrible coming in the near future?

Barack Obama’s name rearranged tells who he really is. This 60 second video is so mind-boggling you just have to see it. The odds of this being mere coincidence must be in the range of a million to one or maybe a billion to one!

Eric Holder sat down with MSNBC‘s Melissa Harris-Perry Sunday for a retrospective chat about his time as Attorney General.

“In 2011 we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s swearing-in as attorney general, perhaps my most famous predecessor….That’s oftentimes thought of as the golden age for the Justice Department, the civil rights, organized crime, variety of issues that they dealt with.

“Well I think, modestly, 50 years from now people will look back at this Justice Department and say that was another golden age. That they dealt with a whole range of national security issues, civil rights issues. They pushed when it came to LGBT equality, they held people accountable when it came to financial things. They kept the nation safe in a way that was consistent with our values.”

That glowing description of Holder’s tenure, critics say, leaves out a few details. The Department is still involved in Congressional oversight hearings regarding the Fast and Furious scandal (and Holder’s role in allegedly misleading investigators), has spied on journalists who wrote unfavorably about the administration, and is under fire for not holding the IRSaccountable for targeting conservative groups seeking tax exempt status.

In addition, the Department is not prosecuting Veterans Administration employees referred for criminal prosecution over manipulating wait times.

Holder does admit to one failure as Attorney General. When asked about the day of the Sandy Hook shooting, he replied:

“It was the worst day I had as Attorney General. It is, I think, the single failure that I point to in my time as Attorney General, that I was not able to…convince Congress to really follow the will of the American people, which is to enact meaningful, reasonable gun safety measures. The gun lobby simply won, you know.”

When Holder submitted his resignation last fall, he agreed to stay on until a replacement could be confirmed. President Obama nominated Loretta Lynch for the post, but several prominent Republican senators have vowed to block her nomination.

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